Monday, December 30, 2013

Below is an Infographic on "The Best Small Business Apps" you need to know about. Best Business apps for Brainstormin,g Customer Service, Cash Flow Helper, Package Tracker, File Sharing, Email Campaign Manager, Business Trip Organiser, Social Media Manager and Best Rolodex Alternative are Discussed in the following Infographic!

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Online games are increasing in popularity with various groups of the population. Many people who start playing these very catchy games have no idea how exposed they can be to hacking. Hackers are looking for gaming websites that don’t have adequate security in place. They look for ways to take control of these websites using DDoS attacks. Once a website is hijacked it takes just a matter of minutes for the attackers to take over. If a website goes down, the damage could be irreversible. And, with over 145 million gamers online each day in over five different continents, having a gaming website that isn't reliable means you could lose your gamers, reputation and any associated gaming revenues in just a single day. Gaming websites are big targets for DDoS attackers, but a website doesn't have to make it easy. With the right protection they can keep their gamers, reputation and keep revenue up.

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

How much do you really know about women and the gaming industry? Most people don’t realize how much influence women have had on gaming development. Some people don’t even realize that there are many female gamers. While men are known for their achievements because they represent 97 percent of the development staff, there are still many women who have changed this industry for the better.

Major Audience

Even though females compose a large portion of the gaming market, most people don’t recognize just how many female gamers there really are. Men are known as the majority of gamers, and this is true. What many people don’t know is that the market isn’t as male dominated as you might think.

Only 55 percent of the market belongs to men. The other 45 percent of gamers are women. Not only that, but the majority of them are over 18.

Major Developments

Some of the biggest advancements in the gaming industry involved women. For example, Centipede used early artificial intelligence programming that later helped programmers develop modern intelligence coding. Only two people developed Centipede, and one of them was female.

Portal is recognized for its advanced physics and interesting mechanics. A woman helped develop this game. She and a group of friends first started work on Narbacular Drop, which was used as the basis for the Portal franchise.

Women have also influenced writing in the gaming industry. While some games are known for being childish or having thin plots, the Legacy of Kain series was set apart due to its mature story telling and intelligent writing. A woman did the vast majority of the writing.

Mobile Gaming

Another area that is experiencing a major female influence is mobile gaming. The entire Temple Run series was developed by a woman who was determined to make small games that would appeal to the majority of gamers. Some of the most popular mobile gamers were partially or exclusively made by women.

Even though only a small number of women create games, they have left a mark that few can ignore. It’s time for more women to join the gaming industry to create even more advanced games and ideas :)

Monday, December 16, 2013

URL shorteners are part of the unexciting world of Twitter and email efficiency. Yes, all the thrills and spills of making your Twitter messages a look a little cleaner of your emails look a little more compact. But, before you fall asleep with giddy delight at the prospect, you should know that not all URL shorteners are alike. They have been known to “introduce an extra point of failure” (life hacker).

An extra point of failure

This is some nerd’s way of saying that a URL shortener can cause you a bit of trouble. The website that published this idea claim that the company WatchMouse monitored a bunch of popular URL shortening tools/services over a month and noticed that they appear to have a few inherent problems.

The quality of the services varies a little with things such as a varying latency and varying uptimes. Their results are only subject to their own tests and bias, but here are a few of the results.

The slowest performance

This has to be the Facebook “FB.ME” which has a performance time that is four times that of its leading competitor. It takes a massive amount of time to connect when compared to the other URL shorteners.

The URL shorteners that are always online

Uptime is difficult to pull off at 100% in any online situation, but somehow the Google and Twitter shorteners had an uptime of 100%. Their tools are called “Goo.gl” and “Twt.tl”. The one with the worst uptime is Snurl. Do not forget the these figures were pull up by the Dutch WatchMouse team and were only based on recorded research that was conducted over a month time period.

Which is the most efficient URL shortener

That has to be the Google tool “Goo.gl” which narrowly beats the YouTube shortener called “you.be”.

The most secure tools

Nobody seems to have published reliable results on this one. However, many of the URL shorteners are from larger companies such as Google, Twitter, etc, which means they have a lot to lose if they are secret back doors for hackers.

This is the official URL shortener that Google have released. It is highly trusted and reliable too. It contains public stats and can show real-time analytics for any of your short Google links. It is also the fastest for producing shortened links.

This is the URL Shortener that Stumble Upon have released and many people feel that it is one of the best URL shorteners on the market. It has sharing functions and the shortened URLs help to increase traffic from their own website. It has a history viewer and can tell you things such as the number of reviews and re-tweets that the URL has had. It also has real-time analytics like the Google URL shortener. There is also a very sexy function that tells you to best times to post based on the information it has collected in the past.

It has a cute name and is not bad at its job. It has a browser toolbar and you can use the preview features too. The tool will also allow you to hide your affiliate URLs. It is not the world’s most feature filled tool, but it certainly gets the job done for you.

This is a tool that some people use because they claim it helps them build a lot of traffic. It has a sharing functionality, which is rather nice. It also has analytic data with is good for real-time traffic and data analysis. The good thing about this tool is that you can get it in a number of ways. You can get it on mobile Internet and with browser extensions. You can get it via a website and there are lots of third party tools that use it too.

This is a URL shortening tool but it does have a lot of premium features that some people have found useful. You are able to schedule your tweets to go out at a certain time and you can send emails to your clients and prospects. They have a mobile Micro-sites that help you to drive traffic for all of your mobile campaigns, and it is good for affiliate links. You can pull up very detailed statistics for comment sites and blog posts and you can add in advertising links. There is also QR Code integration for your print campaigns. You can add links to your PDFs and you can link to other files from your website or your emails.

Aside from lag, having to clean your gaming equipment is one of the worst things that can happen to a gamer. Seriously, who cleans their things, anyway? Gaming is for fun, not doing chores. But in those rare occasions when you decide that your console can't really take much more, then you have no choice but to clean it, especially as far as dust is concerned. Dust is the biggest enemy your gaming set-up can possibly have. It can not only make your hardware run worse than it usually does, but it can also damage it beyond repair. And in the light of the holidays and the oncoming Christmas celebrations, when I assume many people get the new generation of consoles as presents, I decided to do a guide on how to properly clean and maintain and clean your console hardware and accessories. This will not only increase the longevity of your console,but it will also ensure that it runs great for as long as possible. It's not going to be pleasant, let me tell you that much, but it's worth doing if you are a true enthusiast and plan utilizing your new (or old console) in the best way possible.

Unplug everything

This is possibly the most important step in the process. You need to unplug everything, otherwise you risk damaging the platform. Not only that, but you can also get hurt so it's a good idea to apply extra caution. After all, you are working with sensitive equipment. Carefully unplug everything that can be plugged and make sure you don't forget anything.

If some of the accessories aren't plugged (like your controllers or headset) and are powered by batteries, instead, remove the batteries. You want to discontinue all power supply to both the console and its components.

Cleaning the exterior

There are several things that you will need here in order to accomplish this fairly simple task. First of all, buying a microfiber towel would yield better results in the cleaning process, even though this part is optional. You can use any lint-free old rag you can get your hands on. You will need two of them – one for the processing and one for the drying out. Also purchase an electronics spray (the kind of spray you can use to clean all sorts of electronics, like laptops, consoles, monitors and more). Spray some of the solution on the cloth and wipe off all the surfaces of your hardware. Dry out with the other cloth immediately so you make sure that everything works well afterwards. Never spray directly on the surface of the console or any of the periphery. This may very well damage the devices so be careful.

Cleaning the interior

Cleaning the interior is a bit trickier. You should open the console because odds are you don't know what you're doing (otherwise why would you be reading this?) so you might damage it. Spraying compressed air into the air vents of your device would be enough to remove a large portion of the dust outside the console. This way you don't need to open it but you will still be able to clean most of it. Something to keep in mind is that compressed air comes out rather cold so you shouldn't be keeping the device too close to the source. Otherwise the air will condensate inside and damage the console.

Cleaning peripheral devices

Use a cotton swab and some rubbing alcohol to clean the peripheral devices such as controllers, microphones, headsets, etc. Just make sure to dry it out immediately. If you're not confident in your abilities to clean the console properly, seek the help of a specialist.

Saturday, December 14, 2013

It’s important to take care of yourself while you’re on the road. Whether you’re making a long haul or a short haul, there are things you can do to keep your health and your sanity. Take a few breaks on the road and get out of the truck. Go for a brisk walk to get blood moving and get some fresh air. You’ll feel rejuvenated. It’s important to keep your body fit, even if your work doesn’t require it. Try to exercise a few times per week (even lightly). By staying fit you can actually combat exhaustion and tiredness—two things you never want to suffer from while on the road. Instead of eating fast food or greasy foods, stick to healthy, energizing foods. A good diet is important for overall health but also helps keep your energy level up while on the road in your truck seat. Try to pack a few fruits and vegetables, or stop at a local grocery store on one of your stops to pick up some fresh food items for snacks and skip the potato chips.

Thursday, December 12, 2013

This infographic takes a look at the Top 6 software bugs and what they have caused. Below is an exerpt of the infographic.

The advances of time and technology bring new and difficult challenges for software programmers. With the creation of new programming languages and software coding comes new issues or glitches within the application. These glitches are known as bugs.

While software bugs cause unwanted operations with in the program, they are mostly harmless. However, a small oversight during programming or testing can mean a huge issue for the developer, particularly when it comes to the sensitive nature of client information.

Here’s a look at some of the top software bugs from the past few years.

When the ATM becomes a lottery: In 2011, an operation issue with ATMs in Sydney, Aus. gave out more money to customers than they should have.

This bug caused the ATM to run in stand-by mode, meaning that it didn’t recognize the customers’ account balance, allowing them to withdraw more money than they had in their account.

The bug lasted for more than 5 hours and affected more than 40 ATMs across the city. It was reported that one ATM had a line of over 50 people once the word got out.

Did You Know? It's more cost-effective to code and test carefully than to just fix glitches that come up..

It can be all too easy for businesses to downplay the importance of security when it comes to e-mail. Many people wrongly assume that the products available on the e-mail encryption market are vastly unnecessary and simply tools for the companies that sell them to make money whilst capitalising on people’s fears. However, many businesses have become unstuck after underestimating the security concerns attached to e-mail.

Staying Up To Date with Threats

With every new development in the online world comes another series of risks that can be exceptionally damaging. E-mail encryption plays a pivotal role in protecting businesses from the activities of criminals and others into whose hands information can fall all too easily. The information that is included in e-mails can be of a highly-sensitive nature, and can result in huge security breaches taking place. Encryption can protect everything from business plans to employee bank details from being used by outside sources. It is as necessary and as useful for private individuals as it is for companies small and large.

Reputable Software

Identity thieves have been known to intercept millions of e-mails in the past, using information such as insurance details and social security numbers for their own illegal means. Even Government departments have come under fire in the past after not taking advantage of the tools available to them to prevent interception from taking place. It’s important for businesses to always stay one step ahead of criminals, by choosing the most reputable companies and software possible for protecting the content found in e-mails. It’s also essential that quality is not compromised when it comes to finding the most reliable sources possible. Companies should never opt for a low-cost service just to save capital, or the results could be disastrous. No confidential information or indeed anything that you don’t want others to see should be sent in an unencrypted e-mail.

Eliminate the Risks

There’s no real denying that e-mail isn’t a risky way to do business, but if there are no realistic alternatives available, you should ensure that you achieve the highest level of security possible. Ways of keeping e-mail activity secure include using personal e-mail certificates to prove that you are who you say you are when communicating with others and asking others to do the same. Spam and malware have regularly been sent out to contacts without the consent or even knowledge of e-mail account owners, but if your contacts know that you only ever send e-mail with a security certificate attached, they will be unlikely to open any e-mail that doesn’t feature a certificate, leaving them protected from harm.

Monday, December 9, 2013

Today's scientists and researchers are more advanced than they have ever been before thanks to the use of highly effective traditional research methods combined with the speed and efficiency afforded by modern day technology. Case in point, one recent discovery in the material science realm, spider silk, has given scientists, medical professionals, the military, and business thinkers alike a reason for excitement because it has proven to be one of the most revolutionary materials science has seen in a long time. Spider silk, which many are calling the "new super material of the future", is over five times stronger than steel, ten times stronger than kevlar, and yet more elastic than a rubber band. It's potential uses span from the automobile, medical, military and construction industry. You can find out more about this amazing new material in this infographic, "Spider Silk: The Super Material of the Future", including what ways you might see this material show up next.

Thursday, December 5, 2013

The latest iOS upgrade has brought with it new and unique ways to secure the iPhone. TechRepublic reported that although much of operating system has remained the same, updates to its design and improvements to workplace integration makes it a worthwhile change. Additionally, Apple's passcode features have improved with a new alphanumeric password option.

Managing an iPhone with iOS 7

The bring your own device (BYOD) model for workplace integration has taken off, with more businesses allowing their employees to utilize smartphones, tablets and laptops, in place of their company-provided tools. As if in response to this trend, Apple released iOS 7 with features that enhance the functionality of the iPhone in an office setting.

According to TechRepublic, features such as AirDrop make sharing photos and documents fast and simple by connecting employees to one another, enabling a collaborative workplace environment for those who are utilizing this technology. Additionally, the source reported that Apple has also improved its overall app security by enabling a data protection function automatically, preserving any information transferred across these third-party app providers.

Another new resource that speaks to the iPhone's updated security is the single sign-on (SSO) capability that will allow end-users to set a password once across applications that contain sensitive information. This option is especially useful for businesses that hope to safeguard the data employees might be accessing through the cloud because it can prevent code sharing.

The source reported that it's one of the easiest ways to prevent accidentally or intentional breaches of data. Additionally, the upgrades to the iOS 7 platform have provided end-users with new options for creating and maintaining security. Traditionally, the lock screen was protected by a 4-digit passcode. Now, after Apple's latest upgrade, it is possible to set alphanumeric protection, utilizing ten or more upper- and lower-case characters and numbers.

Tom's Guide noted that the 4-digit PIN code has 10,000 combinations, which is difficult to hack but not impossible. With the newest option, it is much more challenging for individuals to break through this defense. In addition to this new safety measure, the iOS 7 upgrade enables users to program how often the device will ask for authentication. Rather than the traditional method, which asked for authentication every time the screen was opened, the iPhone can be set so that it will lock on a timed interval instead.

Does it really matter?

According to Security Watch, mobile devices have become a major part of the lives of users everywhere. The source referenced a study by Sprint that reported how frequently smartphones are accessed on a daily basis, and the one unifying factor is the risk associated with information exposure.

Because of the ability to access the Internet on the go, data security has become a constant concern that responsible individuals are having to overcome. Additionally, without utilizing passcodes and other features meant to preserve the integrity of stored information, issues with privacy are growing.

In order to preserve what Security Watch calls "our most personal computers," it's important that smartphones are protected with verification features that are built into their operating systems. Additionally, it is possible to reinforce these safety precautions with password management software, which can provide an extra layer of defense against unwanted access.

Monday, December 2, 2013

One thing that the more creative people who work with Facebook timeline cover photos have begun to do is to take their design to extremes, in a number of different ways. There are some great ideas for how to improve your Facebook cover photo from Social Media Examiner.

One thing that will resonate with a lot of creative types or artists is to carry out your ideas to an extreme. If you’re being bright, be really bright. If you’re going for a modern look, don’t hold back. In a huge crowd like you are trying to separate yourself from on Facebook, sometimes you have to be willing to take a chance and push the limits in order to grab up some attention. In addition, some of the ideas below will help you to captivate the mind of your visitors and get them wondering exactly what they are looking at.

Use a Super Close Up

If you are going for detail in your Facebook timeline cover image, you might consider zooming way in for a super tight shot. In some cases, if you go in tight for a ton of detail, people will have a hard time figuring out exactly what they are looking at. They just might stare at it that much longer to try to figure it out, which is great news for you. Just try not to make it impossible for them to figure out, as you don’t want the question to go unanswered. That doesn’t do your brand any good.

Zoom Way Out

At the opposite end of the spectrum, you can zoom way out and take a very wide shot. It may connect in with a message of your company, or it just might look cool. Sweeping panoramas are fun to look at, and people will often take a few minutes to do just that when they are used as a Facebook cover photo.

Make it Happy

If you are going for an upbeat feel, try to load your cover photo up with smiling faces from photos. This can be a strong way to send a message about how happy people are to use your product or brand. Keep the colors bright, as well, as brighter colors are associated with stronger feelings of happiness and content. When you bring it all together, the impact on the visitor can be a powerful one.

Make it Abstract

Some people are going with a sort of abstract art look for their Facebook timeline cover photo. You can combine different shapes or styles together in this regard in order to come up with a small piece of abstract art for your Facebook timeline. The goal is to get people to spend some time looking at it and appreciating the design. Just don’t stop it short. Make sure you really show off your creativity and your ideas in whatever you create. You can also use websites such as 123Covers.net for abstract facebook covers.

Don’t Stifle Creativity

Regardless of what ideas you decide to try out, make sure that you stay creative and don’t cut yourself off short. If you only take it two-thirds of the way, you aren’t going to stand out in the crowd. That’s why it is important to come up with really good ideas and then execute on them strongly. That is what is going to get people to click on your page, stay on your timeline and begin looking around for more information. If you can continually get that to take place, it will build up the brand recognition you have and help you to foster more loyalty with your customers.